Odyssey Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Marketing, content, & technology to help printers sell more printing

A successful Print 17 is in the history books, and all the activity surrounding the event has now been assigned the status of “memory.” To help keep those memories alive, here are my Top 10 takeaways, reflections, and observations of Print 17, which ran from September 10-14, 2017 in the south hall of Chicago’s McCormick Place. #1: The show’s footprint is much smaller. One of my very first experiences as an exhibitor was “way back when” at Print 01. That show filled up both sides of McCormick Place. Of course, that show was overshadowed by the events of the original 9/11, so there’s no way at all to make a fair “then” and “now” comparison. However, excluding the events of 9/11, it’s easy to see that the current version of the show is much different than it was back in 2001. The footprint of today’s show doesn’t fill both halls, it fills just two-thirds of one of the halls. Things change. For the Print show, that’s not necessarily better or worse, it’s just different. Don’t ever count on today being the same as yesterday. Be prepared to adapt to a changing environment and an unknown future. #2: Chicago-style pizza tastes best

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, How Much Does Odyssey Cost?

The countdown is on to Print 2017! Soon, from September 10th through the 14th, our team from Marketing Ideas For Printers will be in Chicago, claiming Booth 351 as our temporary home away from home. Last year at GraphExpo we presented a preview of Odyssey, an all-in-one Marketing, Web-To-Print, and Print MIS system. One year later, we’re ready to show how Odyssey is ready for you, and that’s exciting! Where Do Your Customers Shop? We know it’s important to you to be where your customers are. With more and more of your clients online than ever before, you need a solution that meets them where they’re at. After all, according to a Pew Research Center study published in December 2016, …roughly eight-in-ten Americans are now online shoppers. (Source: pewinternet.org: Online Shopping and E-Commerce) But where your customers shop online and where your team works are two different places. Now, you can close that gap between where your customers order printing online and where your team manages those tasks that make printing happen because Odyssey is a Print MIS that lives online in a web browser. When that gap gets closed, you and your team get to experience the efficiency you’ve been aiming for, and

Print 17, blog, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers,

By now, the list of excuses for not joining us at the Print 17 conference in Chicago this September should be pretty small. After all, we’ve already laid out 5 Reasons You Should Join Us At Print 17, and we’ve topped it off by offering you free, exhibits-only passes to the show. Do you really need one more offer? Well, alright, we’ve got one more for you. The Timing Couldn’t Be Better Odyssey, our new breed of Print MIS, is now available, and with it, we’re offering you a chance to take advantage of a special offer and claim a free gift with your purchase of Odyssey! One of those free gift options is a One Night Free Stay during the Print 17 Conference. This is excellent timing for you, and it’s simple, really. By making the decision to purchase Odyssey now, you’ll not only get an unfair amount of attention from our team to help you get Odyssey up and running smoothly but you’ll also get your choice of a free gift!! Take advantage of a free night’s stay during the conference or choose from other options like an Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, or a pizza party for your entire team!

Here's How You Eat An Elephant, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey, MIS

You’ve started your next big project. It’s the big idea that will leapfrog you past other printers competing with you. It’s the revolutionary change that will usher in your next period of success. And it’s intimidating. You’ve lost your momentum, and you’re stuck. The mighty elephant in the room is your obstacle. It’s easy to see, but at the same time you don’t know how to get past it, so it seems even easier just to ignore. You can beat the elephant! How? You beat an elephant the same way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. We’ve Been There Our “next big project” is our Print MIS called Odyssey. Building a new Print MIS from the ground up is challenging. It would be nice if we could say that we perfectly executed a plan that took us from concept to launch with no surprises. The truth is much different, of course. There were days we’d have a stare-down with Odyssey as we tried to figure out how to move past the elephant in the room. If you’re stuck on your project, borrow some ideas from us. Here are three ideas the team at Marketing Ideas For Printers

MIS, Odyssey, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Print MIS Reliability Check: Hard Drive or Internet?

A frequent question that comes up when printers explore moving to any cloud-based service is: What happens if my internet connection goes down? Our new Print MIS, Odyssey, is a cloud-based service, so it’s important to us that you get a clear answer to that question. If internet reliability is a concern in your area, then a cloud-based MIS service like Odyssey may not be the right choice for you. You may be better served by a legacy Print MIS like Printer’s Plan or PrintSmith Vision that resides on a hard drive. However, hard drives have reliability issues too. Whether your internet connection goes down for a cloud-based system, or your hard drive crashes for a legacy system, your primary concern is to get access to your data. So, when data access is needed, which option gets you there quicker and with less hassle? Let’s take a look at both contenders. In Corner One: Hard Drives Hard drives are not immortal. In fact, it’s just a matter of when (not if!) your hard drive dies. When that happens, think about this: what if that hard drive contains all of your Print MIS data? Now, calculate the time and hassle required to recover from a

Each week we present two webinars to talk about Odyssey, the new Print MIS from Marketing Ideas For Printers. Last week’s webinar was one of the best because Cindy Heitman and Don Jones joined me. (That means you don’t have to listen to me drone on and on!) Cindy and Don both have a unique perspective on Odyssey, and you’ll find it helpful to learn more about Odyssey from a different viewpoint. Cindy is on our sales team and helps printers see the benefits Odyssey offers. Don is Odyssey’s lead developer and shares his excitement of Odyssey from the perspective of all the technical details that make it work. A New Print MIS: The Odyssey Live Event Web Meeting Enough of my words, let’s get you watching and listening. Here’s a recording of the Thursday, March 16, 2017, Odyssey webinar: Table of Contents Miss a spot? Here’s a convenient table of contents for you to get to the exact right place, along with links to pages referenced in the webinar: 0:45 – Book: The Influence of “Hooked” on Odyssey (Blog post: http://on.mi4p.com/hooked-blog) 3:55 – Odyssey from Cindy’s Perspective 8:53 – Meet Don Jones (Blog post: http://on.mi4p.com/meet-don-jones) 9:22 – Odyssey from Don’s Perspective 12:40 – Demo of

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Can I Import My Existing Print MIS Data Into Odyssey?

Sometimes Odyssey prospects fall in love with Odyssey (our new Print MIS) when they see it, then second-guess their new-found affection by letting this thought rattle around in their brain: What will I do with all my customer history and existing Print MIS data? I’d make the move if that were easier to deal with. Respectfully, if you’re thinking that thought, then you do not see Odyssey’s true potential, and you might be acting lazy and a little selfish. Don’t Be Selfish Remember, your Print MIS isn’t about you; it’s about your customers. Which MIS solution is going to serve their needs best? A modern, cloud-based Print MIS that puts them on the same platform as you and your team, or a legacy MIS that puts a digital wall of separation between you and your customers? Sure, it’s easier to stay with your current Print MIS, but is it better? If you think about what’s easiest for you without thinking about what’s best for your customers, selfishness is creeping in. Someday, maybe even today, you’ll be vulnerable to losing your customers to another printer that does see how a cloud-based Print MIS allows their customers to do business more efficiently. When that happens, it’ll

MIS, Odyssey, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey is a Print MIS for Online and Legacy Success

As I’ve visited with printers about Odyssey and told them that Odyssey is a Print MIS that directly connects to their website, it’s easy for them to see that Odyssey easily manages online print orders. Because of Odyssey’s seamless connection to websites from Marketing Ideas For Printers, printers can sometimes overlook how well Odyssey handles legacy orders too, which leads to printers asking this question: How does Odyssey handle legacy orders? Here are three of the entry points for print orders in Odyssey. Self-Serve Online Orders These are the online orders placed by your customers with no assistance from you. Your customers sit at their desk at work (or at home in their pajamas, for that matter), fill out an order form on your website, and click the Place an Order button. Just a fraction of a second later, there’s an order in Odyssey (your Print MIS), and everyone on your team is alerted that print production can start. Guided Orders Guided orders are like self-serve orders because they also use an order form found on your website. But, these order forms are intended to be used by your team to guide your customers through the process of ordering printing. Your team will want to

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, Odyssey Print MIS Customers Get Unfair Attention

I’ve been “going public” with a lot of the questions we get from prospects checking out Odyssey, our new Print MIS. Some of the questions can be presented almost verbatim. Other questions are more “question behind the question” type questions, like today’s question: How can I get started with Odyssey without being overwhelmed? Here’s the simple answer to the question behind the question: By intentionally limiting Odyssey’s growth, we’ll be in a position to give an unfair amount of attention to the printers that use Odyssey day-to-day. Limiting Growth for Maximum Impact New software is exciting! But we get it; being on the front end of something brand new (like Odyssey) can be somewhat scary if you feel like you need to go it alone. But you’re not alone! One of the very best ways we can remove your fear of the unknown is by ensuring you get all the attention you need when you need it most. With Odyssey, by intentionally limiting the number of customers that we accept in the early days, we’ll be in a position to give Odyssey’s customers an unfair amount of attention. We’ll able to move very quickly to address the items that are the most essential to the success of customers using Odyssey. Our Core

Odyssey, MIS, Marketing Ideas For Printers, NO-DATA-CUSTODY-BATTLES-HERE

Recently, I published a blog post to make the case that Odyssey and Marketing Ideas For Printers are built for the long haul. You’d expect to hear nothing less, right? But what if you’re not using Odyssey for the long haul? Smart businesspeople make decisions influenced not only by the adoption of new software, but also by the departure options provided by that software. That’s why a question like this comes up sometimes: I like what I see in Odyssey. What if I get started now, but in a few years decide I want to move on? How do I get my data? Let me first start by saying we have no intention of running some “data extortion ring” here. We’re not going to hold your data hostage; that’s just not who we are. It’s your data, and we’re honored you entrust us with it! If, for some unknown reason, you find it necessary to part ways in the future, it’s still your data, and you’re entitled to it. Export Your Data That’s why you’ll see plenty of export buttons in Odyssey. As long as you’re a subscriber, you’ll always have the opportunity to export data from Odyssey’s reports. How About a Different Format? In a perfect world, software

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